Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., is pulling out a secret weapon to drum up opposition to President Barack Obama's plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: President Francis Underwood.

The speaker's office released animated GIFs on Wednesday with the fictional "House of Cards" POTUS played by Kevin Spacey entitled, “President Underwood Responds to President Obama.”

Sasha Obama, right, will be a high school sophomore in January 2017. (Photo by POOL Win McNamee/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama plans to stay in Washington following the end of his term, at least for a little while.

According to the White House press pool, Obama was dining with supporters of the Affordable Care Act at the Engine Company No. 3 restaurant in Milwaukee on Thursday when he was asked the big 2017 question.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., talks about a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. during a tour of the Capitol rotunda that she gave to about 60 D.C. students on Feb. 20, 2014 . (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

On Saturday, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, will be presented with the “Black History Achievement Award” at the Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Columbus. Previous recipients to this award include Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, according to Beatty’s office.

On Wednesday , President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will welcome singers to the White House to honor the career and life of Ray Charles. The full event, entitled “Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House,” will broadcast on PBS on Friday.

President Barack Obama holds up the No. 44 jersey presented to him by the NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday at the White House.

President Barack Obama gave up basketball in 2010 after a bloody lip required stitches. But maybe the 54-year-old president will find a second career on the hardwood.

Okay, that’s not going to happen. But it didn’t stop Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr from floating the idea during a Thursday ceremony at the White House honoring his 2014-15 NBA championship squad.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is engaging presidential hopeful Donald Trump, a notorious tweeter, and questioning everything from what his governing style would be if he were president to revisiting Trump's extramarital affair with Marla Maples. This isn't the first time the freshman senator has archly mused about a Trump presidency. In December, he spoke about the topic on the Senate floor, and his skepticism was unmistakable.

Where to socialize through Obama's last State of the Union (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo).

Washington comes out for the State of the Union, and HOH has compiled some of the better-sounding watch parties for those who like to talk back to the screen. Washington Examiner SOTU BingoWhere : 201 Bar, 201 Massachusetts Ave. NE
When : 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Host : Washington Examiner
Perks : “Your first drink is on us and we'll have many prizes for SOTU BINGO winners and runners-up. This is one political contest where there are no losers,” organizers brag.

#SOTUPROGRESSPARTY: Mixer & President Obama's FINAL State of the Union AddressWhere : Local Sixteen, 1602 U St. NW
When : 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Host : Network for Progress
Perks : Pay $5 cover online for drink ticket, food and one raffle ticket or pay $10 cover at the door for drink ticket, food and two raffle tickets.

Ever wonder about the seating arrangements at the State of the Union? Not only does a good seat provide a better listening experience, but prime real estate increases the chances of a handshake or peck on the cheek from President Barack Obama and face time on live television. HOH surveyed some of the best position players as well as institutional rules to present the best options for securing a primo seat.

Camp Out Rep. Eliot L. Engel, D-N.Y., stumbled into his tradition of always getting a good seat early, at his first State of the Union. A fellow freshman told him that former Rep. Gillespie V. "Sonny" Montgomery, D-Miss., who was friends with President George H.W. Bush, sat on the aisle and always shook hands with the president. Engel told HOH that Montgomery said if the colleague sat next to him, he would pull Bush over to shake his hand and if Engel sat in the third seat in, he would pull him over, too.